Tales of Wishes
by moonlightxrainbow
Summary: It all started with a wish she didn't really want granted. Now she's traveling in a strange world with a Fon Master whose gender she's unsure about, a girl who seems to hate her, and a Colonel who's just...special. Let the journey begin! JadexOC
1. Careful What You Wish For

_A/n: Ok, here it is. My very first Tales of the Abyss fanfic!! I have another account on here (the name is secret because I'm shy, which makes absolutely no sense, but there it is) but I wanted to make an account dedicated solely to Tales of... Cause I really love that series! It's my favorite series. Abyss is my favorite of the games so far, although I'm playing Vesperia now and it's really really good. But, I'm digressing. It's my bad habit._

_Anyhow, yeah it's an OC fic. A few warnings: 1) This follows through most of the game, so if you haven't beat it and don't want spoilers...go beat it and then read! XD 2) I try to make my characters and stories as realistic as possible. Please let me know how I'm doing (not sure how that's a warning) 3) Jade is really hard for me to write!! I hope his personality is down. Please let me know if he's OOC cause I don't want that. -hides- Actually let me know if any of the charas are OOC. Anyway, I think that's all. For anyone who is actually still reading this author's note (which is probably no one unless you're cool like me XD), ON TO THE STORY!!! CHARGE!_

**Chapter I: Careful What You Wish For**

Michaela set her textbook down with a loud sigh and stretched. She looked around her dorm room, blinking in the dim light from provided by her desk lamp. When had it gotten this dark? A glance at the bright red numbers on her clock informed her it was almost 11.

"Yikes," she muttered. "Two hours. I've never studied this much in my life!" She stood up, happily letting blood circulate once again through her butt which had fallen asleep after sitting so long in the hard wood chair. "Guess I'll take a walk before I go to bed," she said to herself.

Grabbing a hair tie off the desktop she pulled her wavy dark brown hair into a ponytail and headed out of the room. There was no telling when Lizzie, Michaela's wild roommate would be back (if ever), so she made sure to lock the door on her way out. She rarely left the room without locking it. The idea of having her precious laptop stolen did not give her pleasant feelings, nor did the thought of what her parents would do. She shivered as her image of their anger ran through her mind. Whoever had said college meant being free from your parents was definitely wrong. Sure, maybe they weren't breathing down her neck about homework everyday, but she still saw them every other weekend, not to mention the never ending phone calls. Besides, seeing as how they were paying for her to even go to college, pissing them off just did not seem like a particularly brilliant plan.

Michaela walked through the door leading outside and a blast of cold air hit her. She shoved her hands in her jeans pockets and bent her head down, shivering now from the freezing early December air. "Stupid, why didn't you wear a jacket?" she muttered to herself.

Once the wind died down and she'd adjusted to the cold a little, she was able to enjoy the night. The sky was clear and even dotted with a few glimmering stars, a rare occurrence with all the light pollution. Happily she headed for the fountain in the campus plaza. It was her favorite place to go at night because of the way the moonlight shimmered on the water and made it seem to almost glow. It was so beautiful. Recently she'd even started dreaming that one day her true love would propose to her beside a fountain glowing in the full moonlight. She giggled a little to herself and shook her head. It was silly to be thinking of such things now. And she had her doubts about whether Devon, her boyfriend for going on six months now, would hang around long enough for that time to come anyway.

She laughed a little at the thought of Devon proposing. They had met over spring break their Senior year on a vacation trip to the beach, and it hadn't taken long for Michaela to realize how not serious of a guy he was. Even so they'd a little thing over the break, and when they'd run into each other again over the summer and realized they would both be going to the same college, their spring fling had turned into a more serious relationship. At least, as serious as Devon could take. Still, he had given her the promise ring.

Michaela fingered the thing silver band around her ring finger, remembering how Devon had come to give it to her. One night about two weeks ago he had come onto her. When she refused and told him she wanted to wait until marriage, he'd gotten angry and it had turned into an argument that she had thought would be the end of their relationship. The next day however he'd slid a little box under her door with the ring inside and a note that said "I'll wait". It had made her giddy and almost want to cry because it was the sweetest thing he'd ever done for her. The subject hadn't come up since then, which made Michaela glad because she really had started to develop feelings for Devon. She didn't think she loved him, but it was definitely something close to that, and she was pretty sure she wouldn't mind spending her life with him. It was way too soon to be thinking about things like that of course.

A familiar voice made Michaela jerk out of her thoughts back to reality. Devon! Looking around for him, she realized she had already passed the fountain and was now standing near the Biology building. On a bench outside the building sat Devon and beside him sat a pretty girl in a mini dress. She was snuggled up against him and he had his arm around her waist while they laughed and talked cheerfully. Michaela stopped in her tracks and felt her heart stop with her. She could hear what they were saying and the sound of her name being said jerked her heart down to her stomach.

"A couple weeks ago, I was really getting into the moment, and do you know what she does? She pushes me off and tells me she wants to 'wait until marriage'," Devon was telling the girl. He said the last part in a high-pitched, mocking voice, and Michaela felt her heart sink a little lower. "Some crap about only wanting to share that part of herself with the one she really loves. I'm like, what the hell kinda shit is this?"

The girl giggled. "What a freak! Why didn't you just drop her then and there?"

Devon laughed. Michaela's heart dropped lower. "I was gonna. But then I thought about it, and realized I could make a game out of this. I'll lure her in until she falls in love with me, and then it'll be easy to convince her. And if not, I'll just have her by force and be done with it. How's the girl think I'm gonna survive for that long without any relief?"

The girl laughed again and rubbed his leg with her hand. "That's what I'm here for," she said seductively.

Michaela turned away in disgust as they kissed, arms wrapped tightly around her stomach in an effort to protect herself from she wasn't quite sure what. Her heart had dropped so low, she was pretty sure it would disappear any moment. She couldn't feel anything, nothing except for the tight, clenching pain in her chest, and the irresistible urge to throw up. Slowly she walked until she was in front of the fountain and she sat down on one of the stone benches and pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. The tears didn't come at first, but as she sat there, the scene she had just watched replaying unwillingly over and over again, they began to leak from her eyes and then she was sobbing uncontrollably.

This was Devon. Devon! Devon who had chased her laughing on the beach and tickling her. Devon who had been her first kiss, and who had been there for her when her kitty died. This was Devon who she had, she had…But this was it. She had seen his true colors and now it was over. Her hands clenched into fists. She hated him! She wanted to beat him until she was sure he would never get up again. But then a fond memory fluttered to the front of her mind and her fists unclenched, because she couldn't hate him, no matter how much she wanted to, no matter how much she should.

All she had been was a game to him.

She looked up at the thin sliver of moon hovering in the sky. "I can't believe I even thought about…" She shook her head and buried her face in her knees again. She couldn't stand to admit that she had been such an idiot when it should have been obvious all along what kind of a person he really was.

After awhile, Michaela lay down on the cool stone of the bench and stared at the sky and the stars twinkling in the blackness. A new fear gripped her. How would she face him? He probably thought she was such an idiot for being fooled by him for so long. She didn't think she could bear seeing him knowing what she knew now. If only she could disappear and never have to deal with it. A blur of light streaked across her vision and she blinked. It took a moment for Michaela to realize it was a shooting star. She sat up. Closing her eyes tightly, under her breath she whispered, "I wish I could disappear and go somewhere far, far away where I'll never have to see him again."

She kept her eyes shut for a few seconds longer in hopes that might make the wish come true. Then she stood up, shaking her head. "I'm being stupid," she mumbled as she started back towards her dorm. "Running away isn't going to solve anything. I'll just lock myself up in my room and never show myself again."

A bright light suddenly lit up the sky around Michaela, so bright that she couldn't see anything else. She held up her hand as if to shield her eyes, even though it didn't actually hurt. The light was bright, but it was also gentle, like the warm light of a star embracing her in its depths.

"That is exactly what this is, Michaela."

Michaela's attention snapped forward to the tall man standing before her wearing long pale green and white robes. Long white hair floated down his back onto the ground around his feet. She blinked at him once, then twice, waiting for herself to wake up. When she didn't, she shook her head and tried again, but he was still standing there in the middle of this bright nothingness.

"Uh…who are you?" she asked finally.

"I am Ebearaa, Granter of Wishes," he replied in his calmly surreal voice. "I have come to grant your wish."

Michaela gaped at him. "You're…what?"

"You made a wish on a shooting star, and I have come to grant that wish," he explained.

"Right," Michaela said. "So, when do I wake up?" She added in a lower tone to herself, "This is completely nuts. You're so screwed up, now you're hallucinating!"

"This is no dream or vision, Michaela. I have looked into the weaves of fate and decided to grant you your wish." He held up his hand and placed his palm on her forehead. "I will send you to a world far away from this place. When you wake up you will be there."

"Wait a minute, you're doing what?" Michaela cried. "Hold on, this is not what I meant! When I said far away I meant a different state or maybe a different country. I don't want to go to another world!"

"It has already been decided."

"Wait a minute! You can't just—" But before she could finish her sentence, unconsciousness overtook her.

~*~

A loud rumbling noise filled her ears, making her head hurt. She fought with unconsciousness for a moment, and then her eyes snapped open to see a crowd of strangely dressed people all standing around her staring down at her and all talking. Michaela sat up, resting a hand to her throbbing head. "Ugh. Where am I?" she mumbled to no one in particular. She shook her head and focused her attention on the crowd of people.

"—just appeared out of nowhere! Was this mentioned in the Score?"

"How strange. Look at the way she's dressed."

"Where did she come from?"

Appeared out of nowhere? Wait a minute! That Ebeer guy had said he was sending her to another world. "Aw crap," she said. The people were starting to move closer. Looking around nervously, Michaela saw her space on all sides slowly starting to disappear. She hunched her knees up a little. "Hey, um, can you guys back off a little? I get kinda claustrophobic," she said. Instead of listening they just got even closer, making Michaela more and more nervous by the second.

A woman suddenly reached out and tried to grab Michaela's arm. Michaela jerked back, slapping the woman's hand away more from a reaction than hostility, but the woman stepped away as did several of the other people. "Do you think she's dangerous?" someone whispered. "Maybe we should take care of her before anything happens."

Michaela saw a few of their eyes flash dangerously and she grimaced. "Okay, time to get out of here, Michaela," she said. She braced herself and then dashed towards the crowd, keeping her body crouched low and hoping they would be startled enough to move aside. It worked and she burst gratefully into free, open air. She ran behind a building where there were no people and since no one seemed to be following, stopped to rest. She leaned against the wall of the building and slid down. "What have I gotten myself into now?" she wondered, leaning her head back.

"Eeeeee."

Michaela jumped and looked around for the source of the noise. She heard it again and then felt something moving on her leg. She looked down and shrieked at the sight of a small pink thing squeezing its way out of her pants pocket. "What the—" she cried. She jumped again as the thing popped all the way out and pressed her back against the wall as if she could escape that way.

The thing ruffled its…feathers? and looked up at her through tiny, beady black eyes. One long white feather stuck up from the top of its head. Michaela realized it was probably some sort of bird although it was perfectly round except for the little bump that was its head and it was actually kind of "Cute!" she exclaimed. "But what are you? And why were you in my pocket?"

"Well, there wasn't anywhere else to go, cheapie," the thing said in an equally adorable voice. "My name is Cheapie! Lord Ebearaa sent me to be your guide!"

"Cheapie. Creative name," Michaela mumbled sarcastically. "So can you tell me where the heck we are?"

"I have no idea," Cheapie replied.

"What? I thought you were supposed to be my guide!"

"Well, I said that, but I'm really more of a companion to make sure you aren't all alone."

"Helpful," Michaela said. "Well, what do you suggest we do now? I'm not sure I feel safe going back out there."

"Look at that place," Cheapie said, flying up with two tiny wings that couldn't be seen when he wasn't using them and facing a large gray-stone building that looked like a giant cathedral. "Let's go there!"

"Yeah, that kinda looks like a church. It should be safe enough," Michaela agreed, standing up and brushing herself off. "Maybe we can actually find someone who can help us."

She ran to it, hoping no one would decide to attack her before she got there. A few people cast her glances, but other than that they mostly ignored her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the long set of stairs leading up to the building and started climbing, Cheapie flying just beside her head. Two men clad in heavy armor and holding long spears that looked dangerously pointy flanked the door leading into the building and Michaela hesitated, but they made no move to stop her as she approached the door and pushed it open. It was surprisingly lightweight for its size.

Inside it was cool and happily free of people except for a few more guards and a man wearing dark red robes lined with gold who looked a lot like a priest. She approached him. "Um, I was wondering if, uh, you could." She fumbled for a way to phrase this without sounding completely insane, but before she could think of anything, the priest spoke.

"You have come to have your Score read, yes? Please hold still, and I will read it for you," he said.

"Huh?" she asked, stepping back as he held his hand out to her. He stood still with his eyes closed for a moment. Michaela waited for something to happen. When nothing did, the priest opened his eyes and peered at her.

"That's strange," he said. "Here, let me try again."

"Try what again?" Michaela asked, but he had already resumed the 'Heil Hitler' position. She rolled her arms and waited until he had opened his eyes again.

"That's very strange," he repeated. "I wonder…" Michaela heard the sound of the doors behind them closing and the priest looked over her shoulder. "Grand Maestro Mohs!" he called. "Something very strange is happening. This girl, it's like she doesn't have a Score."

Michaela turned around to see a fat man in white robes and a freaky hat looking their way flanked by two of the soldiers. When his eyes fell on her, they widened and he pointed. "That's the one! Arrest her immediately!"

"What?" Michaela cried as the two soldiers grabbed her roughly by the arms and started to drag her backwards. "Ow! Hey!"

"Sir, what's going on?" the priest asked.

"Don't worry. This girl is a disruption to the Score, but she will be taken care of," the fat man, 'Grand Maestro Mohs' said. He turned to the soldiers holding her. "Take her to the Headquarters. She is to be executed immediately."

Michaela's eyes widened. Say what?

End of Chapter I

_A/n: Ah, I thought of another warning...Jade doesn't technically come in until chapter 3. I will update soon, depending on reviews. If no reviews, probably about a week from now. If I get reviews, I might give in and update sooner. Though this is assuming people are actually interested in my story... Aiya, I wish I had more confidence. Breathe, breathe.... Ellipses are fun!!!_


	2. Executions, Riots, and Other Fun Things

_a/n: Omg! I can't believe I have four reviews!!! O.o Thank you so much, everyone! I'm happy. ^_^ Anyway, here's chapter two. I will probably upload chapter 3 this weekend sometime. Oh, I'm an idiot and forgot my laptop when I moved in with my aunt this week, which I'm really not sure how I managed since it's like an extension of myself but uh...yeah. So I had to get this chapter out of my sent box in Yahoo and it kinda screwed up the format. I think I fixed most of it, but if you find anything odd that's probably why. Anyway, on to the story._

Chapter II: Executions, Riots, and Other Fun Things

"Executed?" Michaela cried, struggling to get free from the soldiers holding her. "What the heck? You can't just execute someone!"

"Quiet," Mohs ordered. "Anyone who disrupts the Score is a criminal who must be dealt with properly. Take her away."

"Mohs, what is going on here?" a voice said behind them. Michaela, Mohs, and the soldiers turned around to see the source of the voice. It was a young girl, probably about 13 or 14, wearing light green robes embroidered with an ornate design and short dark green hair with two longer parts in the front.

"F-Fon Master Ion! I-I was just," Mohs stuttered.

"Release this girl immediately," Ion said.

"But Fon Master, she appeared out of nowhere and it was not foretold in the Score. If we don't deal with this now, the Score may be set off course!" Mohs cried.

"Mohs, killing does not solve anything." She turned to the soldiers. "You are not to touch this girl again. She is under my protection."

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers said, saluting the girl. She nodded and turned back to Mohs.

"Is that understood, Mohs?"

"I understand, Fon Master," Mohs said, although he looked like he was about to explode. He turned and stormed off through one of the doors along the wall.

Ion looked at Michaela and smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry about all of this," she said. "Mohs tends to take things a little extremely. Are you alright?"

"Um, yes. Thank you," Michaela said. Secretly she was still terrified of the fact that some strange man had just tried to have her executed, and he seemed pretty miffed that he wouldn't be allowed to, but this Fon Master kid seemed to have a great deal of power, so maybe she would be okay. Thank God this girl seemed pretty nice.

"My name is Ion, Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei. What is your name?"

"Um, Michaela."

"That's an unusual name. It's very pretty though," Ion said.

"Oh, thank you. I think..."

Ion smiled again. "Please come with me. There are a few questions I would like to ask you."

Michaela followed Ion as she led her through a door on the right wall. "Uh…what kind of questions?" she asked nervously, hoping this Ion wouldn't suddenly decide she needed to be executed as well. What the hell was a 'score' anyway?

"Don't worry. I just want to clear some things up so that I can try to convince Mohs that your being here won't disrupt the Score's path," Ion explained. She stepped onto a strange glyph made up of four symbols surrounding a large symbol that was glowing on the middle of the floor and motioned for Michaela to as well.

Clearing things up, Michaela thought. Somehow that doesn't make me feel much better. What if he asks where I came from? How am I going to explain that?

"The spirit of Yulia is with the Fon Master," Ion said. The glyph began to glow and a light surrounded them and Michaela had the feeling her stomach had just been flung to the ground as they sped up into nothingness. When the light subsided she was standing on a circle suspended in midair except where it led to three doors set in the circular wall. Ion began walking towards the one on the right and Michaela followed her.

They followed a long corridor up some stairs and to yet another door at the end of the hall. Inside was a room decorated with a desk and chair in the center and decorated with wall scrolls depicting the V-shaped symbol Michaela had noticed around the cathedral and on the necklace Ion wore around her neck.

"Please sit down," Ion said, motioning to a second chair set against the wall. Michaela hesitantly pulled it up to the desk and sat down while Ion prepared to take the other seat. Ion paused before she sat down, picking up an envelope lying on top of the desk and examining it. "Please excuse me for a moment," she said, "there is something I need to take care of." Michaela nodded and Ion left the room carrying the envelope.

Once the door was shut Michaela leaned her head on the desk. "Ok, this is seriously not cool," she muttered to herself. "Stupid Michaela just had to make that stupid wish and that stupid star weirdo just had to 'grant' it. Who does he think he is, meddling in other people's lives anyway?"

"But that's his job, cheapie!"

Michaela screamed and fell out of her chair. "What the hell! Where did you come from? Where have you been?" she cried, glaring up at the pink creature hovering in the air as she picked herself up and tried to regain her composure.

"I was asleep!" Cheapie replied happily.

"Asleep where?" Michaela asked, eyeing it, him, her? suspiciously.

"On your head, silly!"

"What? You were sleeping on my head? For that matter, why were you even asleep? You realize I was about to be executed down there."

"Oh. But I couldn't have really done anything anyway," Cheapie said in its defense.

"I don't know! You could have…pecked their eyes out or…something!" Michaela practically shouted. "But anyway, what were you saying about his job?"

"Well, I don't know a lot since I was only born a couple of years ago, but Lord Ebearaa used to be one of the gods that control people's fates. After awhile he got bored with everything always going according to plan, so he decided to leave the gods and start shaking things up a little. So he became the god of wishes, and whenever someone makes a wish he looks into their futures to see which one would be more interesting and then grants the wish if he likes the outcome!"

Michaela gaped at Cheapie. "So basically you're telling me this guy just completely ruined my life because he was bored?"

"Exactly!"

Michaela groaned. "I can't believe how screwed up my luck is. I think I get why people say to be careful what you wish for. Now what am I gonna do? Ion is going to come and question me any minute, and she'll probably ask where I came from. What am I gonna tell her?"

"Why not just tell her the truth?" Cheapie asked.

"Are you crazy? I wouldn't even believe myself if I said I was from another world! There's no way—"

The door opened and Michaela clamped her mouth shut as Ion came into the door, looking around the room. "I thought I heard voices," she said.

"Oh, uh, I was just talking to Cheapie," Michaela said quickly, pointing to the bird that was still hovering in the air over her head.

"I've never seen a creature like that before," Ion said. She came closer to peer at the pink ball. "What species is it?"

"I'm not sure. It's like a, uh, bird…thing. I think," she added.

Ion smiled. "Yes, he does appear to be a type of bird. It's nice that you have such a companion with you." She sat down at the desk and smiled sweetly at Michaela. This girl was always smiling. "So, Michaela, where do you come from?"

Crap, she thought. This is exactly what I was hoping to avoid. "Um, I um, well…I don't remember."

"You don't remember anything? Do you know how you got here?" Ion asked.

"Uh, I just remember this flash of light and then I blacked out and when I woke up I was lying on the ground in this strange place. I can't remember anything before that," Michaela said.

"You have no memory whatsoever? That's strange," Ion said thoughtfully. She was silent for a moment, thinking about something. "I'm sure you noticed, but your appearance has caused quite a stir. Nothing like this was foretold in the Score and if that gets out it may cause a panic so I would like to ask you to keep this between us. You have already seen how Mohs reacted."

"Yeah, no kidding. If everyone's going to react like that I have no problem keeping quiet," Michaela said, recalling the man's order to have her executed. If Ion hadn't come in right at that moment…She shivered.

"I am sorry about that. I will have a talk with him later to be sure he does not make any rash decisions like that again."

"So, what am I going to do?" Michaela asked.

"For now, I think it's best if you stay here until I can think of something," Ion said. "I actually had an idea, but it's something I will need to check with others before I make that decision."

"Oh, okay. Hey, Ion, I was wondering. What's a score?" Michaela asked.

Ion looked surprised at the question, but she made no comment about it and explained. "The Score is the prophecy read by Yulia Jue long ago using the seventh fonon. That is what the Order of Lorelei, which I am the leader of, was founded on, and the Score has been a guide for all people of the world since then."

Michaela blinked at Ion. "Fonon?"

"Fonons are the basic particles which make up all matter," Ion explained. She smiled. "If you'd like, you may use the Daath library to do research. It's the second door on the left side on the first floor."

"Ok, thanks," Michaela said. That would probably be easier than having to ask Ion about every little thing. Since she was in a completely different world, she had a lot to learn. Later she would look it up on the internet. "Wait, there's no internet here, you idiot!" she cried, not realizing until it was too late that she'd said it out loud.

"What?" Ion asked. She looked confused.

"Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself. I do that a lot," Michaela said, waving the matter aside with her hand. "You don't have internet here, do you?"

Ion looked even more baffled. "Internet?"

"Never mind, I guess not."

"Iooooon!" a voice screamed and a girl with dark hair in pigtails in a pink outfit burst into the room. "Ion, you have to come, there's a huge riot outside! Something about—hey who's that?" The girl stared at Michaela.

"Anise, this is Michaela. She's going to be staying with us for awhile. Michaela, this is Anise, one of my Fon Master Guardians," Ion said, introducing the two calmly.

"Oh, she must be the one all of this is about. They're saying that a girl appeared out of nowhere and now she's going to make the Score go off course!" Anise cried.

"One of the Oracle Knights must have leaked it out," Ion said in a concerned voice. She stood up. "Michaela, please stay here until I get back."

Michaela nodded. "Okay."

"Come on, Anise. I'll need your help with this," Ion said as she opened the door.

"Yes, sir!" Anise cried cheerfully, skipping out the door after Ion. When the Fon Master Guardian reached back to close the door, she shot an evil look in Michaela's direction.

"What was that about?" Michaela said after they were gone. "I don't think that Anise girl likes me."

"Why not?" Cheapie asked, flying from the place he (she decided from Ion's referral to Cheapie as he that it must be a boy) had taken on her shoulder and sitting on the desk instead.

"Are you kidding? Did you see the way she looked at me? And I wonder why she called Ion 'Sir'. Come to think of it, those soldiers did too. Maybe they call everyone sir here. It sounds weird hearing such a cute little girl being called sir though."

"Isn't Ion your age?" Cheapie asked.

"I don't think so. We're the same height, but that's about it. She seems a lot younger than me," Michaela said. She let out a long yawn and lay her head on the desktop. "Maybe if I go to sleep I'll wake up back in my dorm room. What I wouldn't give to be back there."

"But didn't you wish to go away from there?"

"Don't remind me," Michaela groaned. "I'm trying to forget how much of an idiot I am." Michaela closed her eyes and began to doze off.

~*~

"Ion, are you crazy? This is a very important mission. You can't just bring some random girl along!"

Michaela awoke to the sound of voices drawing nearer. She blinked drowsily and sat up, looking around confused. "Where am I?" she asked, blinking at the unfamiliar surroundings that were definitely not her dorm room. "Oh, right. I'm in a different world." She sighed and dropped her head back on the desk then quickly lifted it back up again because she had a painful crick in her neck.

"I'm worried about what will happen if she stays here alone. What if another riot starts? At least until things calm down I would feel better if she went with us."

The door swung open and Ion entered, followed by an angry looking Anise. "Nothing will happen as long as she stays in Daath!" Anise cried.

"Anise, please, I've already made my decision and Jade agreed," Ion said.

"Booo! Fine, but don't blame me if something goes wrong!" Anise crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her nose in the air.

"What's going on?" Michaela asked. Cheapie was somehow still sleeping on the table beside her.

"Michaela, Anise and I are going to be gone for awhile and I think it would be best if you came with us for your own safety," Ion said. "Is it alright with you?"

Michaela shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Ion nodded. "We're leaving now. Is there anything you need to do to get ready?" Michaela shook her head. "Anise, are you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah," Anise said, still sounding annoyed.

The three left the room and headed back towards the glyph. "We need to leave without anyone knowing, so we need to make as little noise as possible," Ion told Michaela in a low voice while they walked.

Michaela nodded silently, catching on to the air of stealth as they proceeded through the quiet corridor. When they reached the glyph Anise whispered the phrase and they were teleported back to the first floor. Anise peeked out the door and then nodded to the other two that the coast was clear. They tiptoed out into the high-ceilinged room and to the giant double doors leading outside. Anise cracked one of the doors just enough that her arm could fit through and pulled an hourglass out of her pocket, which she put outside the door.

They waited a moment and then tiptoed outside with Michaela wondering what the hourglass was for. She glanced at it and saw the sand trickling down to the bottom. Then she noticed that there were still two soldiers guarding the door. She jumped, certain that they were going to get caught, but the guards didn't budge. Michaela shook her head and ran to catch up with Ion and Anise who were already down the steps.

It was pitch black outside, making Michaela wonder how long she had slept because she was pretty sure it had been the afternoon when she first woke up on the ground here. They walked through the eerily quiet city, Michaela sticking close behind Ion and Anise. She looked around, expecting something to jump out of the shadows and grab her any minute.

"Good evening." A dark figure stepped out from behind a building they were walking by and Michaela screamed.

End of Chapter II.

_A/n: Yes, Michaela thinks that Ion is a girl. Because I thought Ion was a girl when I first started playing the game and I wanted to incorporate that into the story. XD_


	3. An Eventful Journey

_A/n: So I'm back at home for the weekend. Yay for four day weekends!! And I have my baby back...my poor little laptop. It was so lonely. :( Anyway. Jade comes in this chapter!!!! XDDDD *cough* I'm not freakishly obsessed with him in anyway...nope. Definitely not. Ok, on to the hotness! I mean story. . ._

**Chapter III: An Eventful Journey**

"Would you be quiet? You're going to get us caught!" Anise hissed.

Michaela clamped a hand over her mouth, remembering that they were supposed to be sneaking out of Daath and screaming probably wouldn't help. "Sorry," she mumbled into her hand. "He startled me."

"So it would seem," the man said, looking down at Michaela from his towering height through glasses glinting in the moonlight. His height made her feel slightly intimidated, and the fact that his eyes seemed to be glowing a deep red didn't help. She unintentionally took a step away from him. "I assume this is the girl you spoke of?" he asked, turning to Ion.

"Yes, this is Michaela," Ion said. "Michaela, this is Colonel Jade Curtiss of the Malkuth."

"Um, nice to meet you," Michaela offered.

The man nodded and pushed his glasses up, peering more closely at her and making Michaela feel even more uncomfortable. "Interesting," he said after a long moment.

"What's so interesting about _her_?" Anise said, crossing her arms.

Jade let out a chuckle. "What's the matter, Anise? Jealous?" Anise glared at him, but before she could make a reply he turned around and said, "We'll save the discussion for later. For now we'd best be moving before someone catches the Fon Master sneaking out."

"Yes, let's go," Ion agreed.

Ion, Anise, and Jade began to walk away and Michaela followed behind them once again. She hated to admit it, but Anise had a point. What was so interesting about her? Yeah, she might have appeared out of thin air and her jeans and t-shirt probably looked a little strange, but other than that she couldn't see how she was any different from the rest of these people. Maybe it had to do with that Score thing.

As they neared the city exit, Jade stopped again. "Ion, there will most likely be monsters around so I would like you and Michaela to stay in the middle. I will take the lead and Anise, you take the rear."

"Yes, Sir!" Anise said cheerfully, standing on one leg, sticking her fist in the air.

The group moved into formation with Ion and Michaela in the center. "Um, Ion?" Michaela whispered as quietly as possible. "What does he mean by monsters?"

"He means monsters," Anise cut in. "You know, big hairy things that run around attacking people."

"I wasn't asking _you_," Michaela said. She was starting to get annoyed with this little brat's attitude.

"I was just saving Ion the trouble of having to answer your stupid questions," Anise retorted.

Michaela glared at her. "Well excuse me for asking stupid questions."

Ion cleared her throat. "Well, since Michaela's question is answered there's really no need to argue about it."

"Of course Ion!" Anise chirped, smiling brightly. "We can't let an annoying girl like this spoil our journey!"

Michaela shot Anise another glare, but held her tongue, determined to prove that she was the mature one. Ion sighed, Anise giggled cheerfully, and beyond that the group fell silent except for the soft thumping of their footsteps on the ground. The silence enveloped them as they traveled along, the moonlight casting eerie shadows in the night and making Michaela jumpy once more.

She had never liked being out at night as it was and knowing now that there were actually monsters (and probably bandits too; this seemed like the sort of place where traveling on foot was common and bandits lurked amidst the shadows) made things even worse. Even though she had three companions, four if you counted Cheapie, she was unsure of how well Anise and Jade would be able to fend off monsters. She probably had nothing to worry about. After all, if monsters were such a common thing as Anise made them sound, wouldn't everyone in this world be prepared to defend against them? Everyone except her that was. And judging by the formation Jade had set them in, Ion probably wouldn't be much help either. But Jade was a member of the military, and Anise was some sort of Guardian so—

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the glistening white fangs lunging towards her, aimed directly at her neck. A lump formed in her throat and she could not move, leaving her to stare wide-eyed as her death loomed towards her. A flash of green light and then something warm splattered on her face. Jade stood protectively in front of Michaela and Ion, the long spear that was now in his hand poised for battle. "Stay alert! There's more of them," he said, swinging the spear with swift deftness as sure enough another snarling wolf-like creature lunged at the group.

Michaela briefly wondered where the spear had come from. She was pretty sure he hadn't had it before, but then her attention was turned to the fact that around eight or nine of the wolves were encircling their group. Jade seemed to have noticed this fact as well because he shouted, "Anise, hold them off while I cast!"

"Okay!" Anise shouted back. The young girl appeared in Michaela's line of vision riding on top of some sort of large creature, Michaela couldn't make out what it was in the darkness. The creature swung an arm at the wolves at their front, sending the creatures flying backwards into the air yelping, and then headed for the rest.

Meanwhile, Jade began chanting something which sounded like a spell. "I who stand in the full light of the heavens command thee," he said, "who opens the gates of Hell. Come forth divine lightning. This ends now!" A giant glowing circle appeared on the ground around Jade, and then two more appeared in the sky above where the wolves now lay as lightning engulfed the creatures. A final howl of pain escaped from the wolves, the circles and lightning disappeared, and the monsters fell to the ground dead.

With glimmers of light, Jade's spear and Anise's creature disappeared. Jade brushed himself off. "Well, is everyone alright?" he asked calmly, turning to survey Ion and Michaela.

"Yes. Thank you, Jade," Ion said. Michaela just nodded, not sure if she was really alright or not. It all felt very surreal. This world was becoming stranger and stranger by the minute.

"Good. Then let's continue, shall we?" Without waiting for a reply he turned and began walking again.

Michaela let out a sigh and turned her gaze to the sky as they tread silently along the grass-surrounded dirt path, still shaken by what had just happened. A thousand tiny stars twinkled in the dark sky. It was strange seeing so many stars, strange and at the same time amazing. She had never seen so many stars back at home. Her heart ached a little with the thought of home—her school, her family, her friends. Would she ever see them again? Probably not, and it was all because of a star that she had gotten into this mess in the first place. She wondered if that star was in this sky, and if the man who had cruelly granted her stupid wish was up there watching her and enjoying her suffering. Honestly, playing with people's lives like that, just for his own entertainment. _That_ reminded her of someone she knew. She frowned and her hand moved unconsciously to her jeans pocket and felt the ring which she had placed there. At least there was one good thing about getting sent to this living Hell.

"Cheeee~," a small voice said from above Michaela. "What's going on? Why is everything so noisy?"

Hearing the voice, everyone turned to Michaela, who was also trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It sounded vaguely familiar... She felt something moving on the top of her head. Cheapie. She had completely forgotten about him. "Cheapie, how did you sleep through _that_?" she cried in utter amazement.

The bird fluttered down to rest on her shoulder. "Slept through what?" he asked, still sounding half-asleep.

Michaela shook her head. "I can't believe you…that's twice now in one day that my life has been in danger and you slept right through it. What was that star guy thinking, sending a lazy thing like you to help me out? He may as well have sent me a corpse! At least I could use that to scare people off." She glared at the bird, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, I'm just so sleepy. I can't help it," Cheapie said.

"Oh right, you can't help it," Michaela huffed. "Well, I guess I won't be able to help it if you're life is ever in danger and I'm just too busy sleeping or some such thing to save you."

"Mikey! Don't be like that!" Cheapie cried, fluttering his wings in distraught. "I didn't mean to sleep through it, whatever 'it' was. Really!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Michaela mumbled. "And do _not_ call me Mikey!" She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped forward angrily. It took her a moment to notice the three pairs of eyes boring into her back. She stopped and turned around to see her companions staring at her like she was completely insane. Even Jade had at some point made it behind her and was eyeing her with curiosity. "What?" she asked.

"Were you…talking to that bird?" Anise asked slowly.

"Yeah? So?" Michaela said. "What's the deal, I don't get it."

"You mean you could understand what it was saying?"

"Yes…Wait, couldn't you?" Michaela asked, looking at the other three. Ion and Anise shook their heads. Jade just continued to stare at her, but she took his silence as a no as well. "Oh. Um…"

"It just sounded like he was saying 'cheapie, cheapie' over and over again," Anise explained. She turned to Ion. "See, I told you not to bring her along. She's completely nuts!" she whispered intentionally loud enough for Michaela to hear.

"I am not nuts!" Michaela cried defensively. "I just, um…" She glanced at Cheapie for help.

"Only people with a special gift can understand me," Cheapie offered.

"Only people with a special gift can understand what Cheapie says!" Michaela said quickly. Hey, this bird was actually helpful!

"Riiight," Anise said. "Whatever you say. Mikey," she added, with an evil grin.

Michaela glared at her. "Don't call me that!" she yelled, stomping her foot and holding a fist up at Anise.

Anise ducked behind Ion. "Ion, Mikey is being scary!" she cried in a false whine.

Michaela squeezed her hands into fists so tight her nails dug into the skin. "You little…"

"Well, as fun as this is, we really should be going," Jade said cheerfully.

Michaela stared at the tall older man as he moved in front of her once again and they continued on their way. Fun? Was this guy completely insane? Great, so she was stuck in a monster-infested world with an annoying little kid and a psychotic Colonel whom, she noted, it did not seem like a very good idea to mess with. Life was so wonderful. At least she had Ion there to keep her sane.

Eventually they came to the top of the hill they had been climbing from where she could see the city they had come from. Ion had called it…Daath? Michaela hoped they would stop to take a rest. Climbing that hill had made her realize just how out of shape she was as she huffed and puffed and felt stabbing pains in her sides. Ion seemed a little out of breath as well. Jade on the other hand was, of course, completely unfazed and seemed to have no intention of stopping. In fact, if anything he seemed to be walking even faster than before, which made Michaela groan inwardly. She wasn't sure how much more of this her heart, lungs, sides, or feet could take.

Note to self…working out will probably be a good idea, she thought.

The journey passed uneventfully as they continued down the hill and along the path. It seemed like they had been walking for hours by the time what looked something like a city finally appeared on the horizon. When they reached it, Michaela realized it was in fact a port, not a city. A giant ship was anchored at the bridge, guarded by two sleepy looking soldiers. Michaela's mouth dropped at the sight of the ship. Standing directly in front of it, the ship was even more gigantic. It loomed over all of their heads, probably about the size of how she imagined the Titanic, maybe bigger. Ion and Anise also seemed to be in awe by the ship's size.

"Wow, Colonel. It's so big," Anise giggled.

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Indeed," he said. "Shall we get on?"

"Okay!" Anise cried, running onto the ship with excitement. Michaela, Ion, and Jade followed. The guards nodded at Jade as he passed, probably too tired to really care who or what came and went.

"Welcome aboard the Tartarus," Jade said once they were all on. He turned to two soldiers. Unlike the soldiers from before who had worn silver armor, these soldiers were dressed in blue armor with yellow pants. "Show our guests to their rooms."

"Yes, Sir!" The soldiers saluted Jade and lead the three to an empty room. "Let us know if we can do anything for you, Fon Master," one of the soldiers said.

Ion nodded. "I will, thank you." The guards nodded and left.

The room was plain with wooden floors and metal walls. A metal table sat in the middle of the room and two sets of bunk beds were built into one of the walls. Michaela removed Cheapie, who had long since fallen back asleep, from her head and laid him down on the table. For a moment she worried that the metal might be cold and uncomfortable, but in what she was beginning to realize was typical Cheapie behavior, the bird did not even stir. Rolling her eyes, she sat down on one of the bottom bunks and stared at her feet. "So, what now?" she asked.

"We should get some sleep since it's already pretty late," Ion suggested. Michaela nodded her agreement and lay down on her chosen bed. She closed her eyes, but her thoughts were racing way too much with everything that had happened today to fall asleep, so she lay awake for a long time just thinking about all the things that she didn't understand and how she really wished she could just go home before she finally drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Michaela awoke to the sound of many pairs of feet running along the hallway outside. Sitting up, she saw that she was alone in the room. She stood up and cautiously opened the door, wondering what was going on and where Ion and Anise were. Several soldiers were running up to the ship's deck. Michaela waited until they had passed and then followed them. She was relieved to see Ion standing by the rail looking out at the sea.

"What's going on?" Michaela asked, joining the Fon Master. The sky was tinged a faint pink and she could just see a mass of land starting to form in the horizon ahead of them.

"There was a large collection of strong seventh fonons headed towards Malkuth," Ion explained, although her words only made Michaela more confused.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It may mean that Kimlasca has launched a very destructive power on Malkuth or that they have sent spies over." Michaela didn't really understand that either, but Ion sounded concerned so she realized it must be something bad. She glanced at Ion, a little unsure of what to say. Ion turned to her and smiled. "Please don't worry. Jade will take of everything, so you may go back to bed if you like."

Michaela shook her head. "No, I'm already awake now. Or will I be in the way if I stay up here?" she said, realizing that Ion might have been trying to get rid of her.

Ion shook her head. "No, it's fine. You won't be in the way anymore than I am."

Michaela wondered about the truth of those words. After all, Ion seemed to be a pretty important figure as the Fon Master or whatever, whereas she herself was just some random girl who seemed to do nothing but cause trouble. Then again, important figures like kings and stuff usually didn't do anything beyond politics and stuff. Maybe that's what Ion meant?

She shrugged and turned her attention back to the land that was fast drawing nearer, enough so that she could now actually make out grass and trees in the early daylight. A few minutes later the Tartarus was still headed fast towards the land. Are they ever gonna slow down? she wondered. A few moments later, the land now almost immediately before them and the ship had still made no signs of stopping. She began to panic and gripped the rail so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She braced herself for the inevitable crash and then they were on the land, going as smoothly over it as though they were still on the water.

Michaela blinked her eyes in confusion. How were they sailing on land? She glanced at Ion, but the Fon Master seemed lost in thought and completely unfazed. A sigh escaped from Michaela's lips. Boats sailing on land. It was probably just another common thing and here she was freaking out about absolutely nothing. "This place just gets weirder and weirder," she mumbled under her breath.

End of Chapter III.

_A/n: So, just a heads up, don't expect me to get into the romance too soon. I try to develop relationships so if things go a little slower than you'd like...well, I promise it will come eventually. Patience is a virtue! (One that I don't possess, but that's OK. :D)_


	4. Trouble

_A/n: Uh...sorry for the long delay. School and I was in the ER for something really stupid. I have an ovarian cyst, if anyone was wondering. Anyway, here's chapter iv at last! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope everyone enjoys reading it. ^.^ Oh, and once again, thank you so much for reviewing! You guys are awesome!!!!!_

**Chapter IV: Trouble**

Michaela watched Jade, Anise, and Ion walk down the stairs leading out of the ship. They were stopped in front of a mountain, apparently where the seventh fonons were originating from. She had been told to stay on the Tartarus while the others went to investigate, probably because she would have only gotten in the way if she did go. She sighed as the stairs were lifted back into the ship and leaned her elbow on the railing. Now what? She figured she had two options. She could either stand around and be bored, or she could get Cheapie and go exploring on the Tartarus.

"Well, that's an easy decision," she said to herself. She turned and headed back to her room. Cheapie of course was still fast asleep where she had originally put him on the table. Michaela rolled her eyes and poked the bird. "Hey, wake up."

Cheapie stirred and blinked sleepily up at her. "Huh?" he said.

"Come on. I want to go exploring, but I don't want to go by myself." Michaela poked him again.

"Cheapieee. Why do I have to go with you?" Cheapie said.

"Because you just do. Now come on!"

Looking annoyed at being woken up, Cheapie flew up to her shoulder and landed on it. "Why are we going exploring?" he asked.

"Because Ion and the others left so now I'm bored," Michaela said. She went back into the hall and looked around. It was blissfully free of soldiers. She grinned and started off. "I wonder where we should start…" She opened a door next to them and looked inside. It was empty except for some more bunk beds. Boring. Closing the door, she looked around again and decided to see what was at the other end of the hallway. Sure enough, there were a set of stairs at the end leading down. Michaela started down cautiously. The stairway was so dark as she went down that she could barely see in front of her except for the occasional strange glowing light on the walls.

"Maybe we shouldn't be coming down here, Mikey," Cheapie said in a frightened voice that matched Michaela's own misgivings.

"Shh," Michaela hissed. "And don't call me that." She crept down to the bottom of the stairs to an equally dark hallway and peered down it. There was a door at the end of the hallway, and a light moving underneath the doorway.

What is that? she wondered as she moved toward the door and pressed her ear to it. She could just make out voices coming from the other side.

"York, hurry up with those crates!" It sounded like a woman's voice. "Urushi, what are you doing?"

Michaela heard a crash and then the sound of something crashing and a man howling in pain.

"Honestly." It was the woman again. "I have to do everything." There were some shuffling noises and then the door opened and Michaela fell on her face at someone's feet. Pushing herself to her knees and looking up, she saw a woman standing there. She wore a hot pink dress with a slit up to her hip and a matching pirate hat over her hot pink hair.

"Who are you?" the woman asked, folding her arms in an 'I'm better than you' manner.

"Um, uh…" Michaela stuttered. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I might ask you the same thing!" she said, crossing her arms as well and glaring up at the woman in an attempt to hide her fear.

The woman smirked. "Hmph. Urushi, it looks like we have a rat. Tie her up!" She waved her hand at Michaela dismissively and walked back into the room, hips swaying. Michaela narrowed her eyes at the woman's back. Stupid haughty bitch…

A man came towards her. He was short and fat, and dressed in a green outfit with a bushy beard and paint over his eye that made him look like a clown or something. Before she could react he grabbed her and dragged her to a pole in the middle of the room.

"Hey!" Michaela shouted, struggling. "Ugh, how many times am I gonna be manhandled in a twenty-four hour time span?"

"Let her go!" Cheapie cried, flying up to the man and trying to peck his eyes out.

"Hey, what the hell is this thing?" the man, Urushi, demanded. He swatted at Cheapie.

Michaela grinned at the fact that Cheapie had actually taken her advice and used the opportunity to wrench her arm away from Urushi. Unfortunately he had landed a blow hard enough to knock Cheapie back and grabbed her again before she could do anything else. He forced her arms behind the pole and tied them together with a rope.

"There, now stay quiet," he ordered, marching back to the woman and another man whom Michaela assumed was also his companion. This man was dressed in a blue pirate suit and had an eye patch over his right eye. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at their lame sense of fashion and instead turned her attention to figuring out how to get out of here. The weird trio was currently loading piles of crates through a second door in the wall, this one leading outside, onto a cart.

"Cheapie, are you okay?" Michaela whispered, trying to keep her voice low enough that only the bird would hear her.

He sat up and shook his head. "Yep!" he said loudly.

"Shh!" Michaela hissed, cringing as she glanced at the bandits as she assumed they were. Fortunately they didn't seem to have heard and weren't paying her any attention. "Listen, I want you to go tell the soldiers—Oh wait, they can't understand you. Um…" She thought for a moment. "Okay. Jade and the others went up a mountain outside. Go find them and then start freaking out. Hopefully they'll get the idea that's something wrong. Okay?"

Cheapie nodded. "Okay!" he said. "Should I flap my wings around wildly and scream a lot?"

"Yeah, whatever! Just go and be quick about it," Michaela hissed. Cheapie nodded and flew back into the hallway. She sighed and leaned her head against the pole. Hopefully he would prove dependable. While she waited, she watched the bandits load the rest of the crates onto their cart which took about half an hour. Once they were finished the woman came to stand in front of Michaela and smirked down at her with her hand on her hip.

"Well, hopefully someone will come and find you," she said. "This should teach those military fools to mess with the Dark Wings." With a last flip of her hair, she turned and swayed out the door. York and Urushi closed the door behind her and Michaela was left alone.

"That Cheapie better get back here really fast," Michaela muttered.

She started trying to undo the rope tied around her wrists, but it was tied too well and after ten minutes or so she had only succeeded in starting to rub her skin raw so she decided to quit and just waited patiently…well, impatiently.

~*~

Cheapie flew as fast he could towards the mountain Michaela had told him about, hoping that Ion, Jade, and Anise hadn't gotten very far. He also hoped that this was the right mountain, because Mikey would probably kill him if he got it wrong. He started to flap his wings harder, flying as fast as he could. She would also kill him if he didn't hurry, and it hadn't taken him long to learn that Mikey could be very mean. He hadn't gone very far when he saw the people he was looking for down below and flew down to them.

"Cheapie! You have to help Mikey! She's in trouble!" he cried, even though he knew they couldn't understand him. He flapped his wings urgently, hoping they would get the message.

"Hmm, what's this?" Jade asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Cheapie, what's wrong?" Ion asked. She held out her hand for Cheapie to land on. Cheapie sat on Ion's hand and continued to flap his wings, chattering away loudly. Ion turned to the Colonel. "Jade, I think something may be wrong with Michaela."

Just as the Fon Master said this, a loud explosion came from the direction of the Tartarus, followed by a puff of smoke. "So it would seem," Jade said, eyeing the smoke. "I suppose we should head back then. The seventh fonons will just have to wait."

"We can investigate the fonons for you, Colonel!" Anise suggested in her usual flirtation voice.

"No, Anise. I think we should go back to the Tartarus with Jade. I'm worried about Michaela," Ion said.

Anise crossed her arms in a pout. "Michaela this, Michaela that. Just because you're too blind…" she muttered under her breath so that no one else could hear her as they turned and began walking in the opposite direction. She stormed after them.

They followed a spastic Cheapie to the Tartarus and down to the lowest level. Jade raised his eyebrows when they reached the door, knowing that this was where they carried several crates of gun powder. They opened the door to find the room empty and Michaela sitting on the floor tide to a pole.

"Well, well. What have we here?" Jade said.

~*~

Just when Michaela had decided Cheapie must have gotten lost or distracted and had given up hope of someone ever finding her, the door opened and she heard a voice say, "Well, well. What have we here?"

She looked up to see Jade standing in the doorway with Ion and Anise close behind. "Mikey! Are you okay?" Cheapie cried, flying into the room.

"Brilliant, what took you so long? And haven't I told you not to call me that?" Michaela said. She sighed. "Whatever. Can someone please untie me? These ropes are starting to hurt."

Jade knelt down and deftly untied the ropes binding her. She breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her wrists. "So, would you care to explain what you're doing here and why the crates that were here are gone?" Jade asked.

"Uhh…" Michaela blushed. She hadn't planned on getting caught on her little expedition. Oh well, that wasn't important right now. "Well, I was exploring." Jade raised his eyebrows at that statement but let her continue without interruption. "I wound up here and there were these three bandits stealing the crates and they tied me up and left me here."

"Bandits? What did they look like?"

"I don't know. There were two pirates and some weird clown dude," Michaela said. "The lady said they were the Dark Wings."

"Ah, I should have known," Jade sighed. "It seems we simply won't be able to finish this journey without constant interruption. Which direction did they go in?"

Michaela shrugged and pointed her finger to the other door. "That way I guess."

Jade turned to leave the room. "We'll have to chase after them, I suppose," he said as he left. "I'll leave her to you, Ion."

"Are you alright, Michaela? Did they hurt you?" Ion asked, coming over to her. Anise meanwhile was glaring at her with her arms crossed and her legs spread apart in a childish stance.

"No, I'm okay," Michaela said. She pushed herself to her feet and stretched her arms a little, flexing her fingers. "It's nice not to be tied up anymore."

"That's good. Then let's go back to our room," Ion suggested. Michaela nodded and the three of them (and Cheapie) headed back upstairs just as the Tartarus jolted forward, nearly knocking them off balance. Michaela put her hand on the wall to steady herself.

"Do you think he'll catch them? I don't think they were gone for more than fifteen minutes before you guys got here," Michaela said.

"Of course he will! He _is_ the Colonel," Anise said.

"Oddly enough, I don't find that hard to believe," Michaela commented.

Anise's smile quickly changed to a frown. "Although he wouldn't have to if you hadn't gone and caused trouble." Michaela bit her lip.

"Anise, you shouldn't say such things," Ion said.

The Tartarus jolted again, followed by the sound of cannons or something being fired. Apparently Jade really had found the Dark Wings. They made it to the room before another jerk, and Michaela quickly sat on her bed before she lost her balance and fell over.

The jerking and firing continued for several minutes until they heard Jade's voice loudly say, "You, there! Move your coach before you get caught in the crossfire!"

Michaela looked up, confused. "Huh?" Then she realized he must be talking to someone outside. "Oh, right," she mumbled. She glanced over at Cheapie who had seated himself on her pillow. He was sound asleep. She smacked her forehead. This bird…

~*~

Jade turned the speaker off and returned to standing calmly with his hands in the pockets of his uniform. "Commander!" one of the soldiers manning the Tartarus called. "Enemy has crossed Rotelro Bridge! They're putting gunpowder on the bridge!"

"My, my. They intend to drop the bridge, do they?" Jade commented. So, they were using the gun powder they stole. He smirked.

"Fon slot activation detected!" another soldier said. "The enemy set off fonic artes using the fifth fonon! The bridge is going to explode!"

Jade sighed. Ah, so much fun. "Tartarus, full stop!" he ordered. "Activate fonic barrier."

"Yes, Sir! Tartarus, full stop!"

"Fonic barrier activated!"

The Tartarus slowed to a stop and a shimmering shield surrounded the ship just as an explosion filled the air and Rotelro Bridge crumbled to pieces. Jade adjusted his glasses. Well, with the bridge out, there would be no investigating the seventh fonons at Tataroo Valley. "Set the course for Engeve," he told the soldiers as he left the room. For now they would rest at the grocer's village and decide their next move from there.

~*~

"Ion, I've been meaning to talk to you about Michaela," Jade said to the Fon Master as they were preparing to leave the Tartarus and go into Engeve.

Michaela's head jerked up at the sound of her name. Ion also looked up. "Yes, Jade?" the Fon Master asked.

Jade glanced at Michaela with his red eyes, she was still in awe about those, and then back at Ion. "Although I agree that she should not be left alone for now, it does seem that we may need a reason for others' benefit of why she is traveling with us."

"This is what I've been trying to tell him all along," Anise said. "So, Colonel, do you think we should leave her in Engeve?" Michaela narrowed her eyes, but let it slide.

"Well, well. Jealous, are we?" Jade said.

"What?" Anise cried. Michaela raised her eyebrows at that statement. She couldn't think of any reason that Anise would be jealous of her for, but she saw a slight blush on Anise's cheeks as the younger girl placed her hands on her hips. "Of course I'm not jealous!"

"It would seem I hit the bull's eye," Jade commented. "Well, Ion?"

"Actually I had considered Anise's insistence that bringing a regular girl with us would raise some questions, so I thought of a solution," Ion said with a sweet smile. "I've decided to make Michaela a Fon Master Guardian."

"You what?" Anise and Michaela exclaimed in unison. They exchanged glances.

"Ion! You can't just make her a Fon Master Guardian," Anise said. "We don't know anything about her."

"I have to agree with Anise on this one," Michaela said. "I can't be anyone's bodyguard. I can't fight or anything so I can't even protect myself, let alone anyone else!"

"Don't worry. It's only a temporary job, and you won't have to fight," Ion assured her.

"But—"

"Think of it as a disguise," Jade said. "This way you can follow Ion without raising any suspicious questions."

That did make sense…sorta. Michaela sighed. "Okay."

"There's a uniform for you in the wardrobe in our room. I hope it's the right size," Ion said.

"Well, then. Anise, we'll trust you to explain everything to Michaela. Ion and I will go on ahead and wait for you in Engeve," Jade said with a smirk in the two pouting girls' direction. Before either of them could protest, he and Ion climbed down the ladder.

Anise groaned. "Come on, let's go."

She and Michaela went below deck to the room and Michaela opened the wardrobe. Hanging in it was a dark blue uniform made of three pieces. While Anise turned away and Cheapie slept on the table, she changed from her regular clothes into the uniform. It had a short pleated skirt with skin tight shorts to go underneath it, and a shirt that cut off just above her midriff, exposing her bellybutton. The shirt was longer in the back and made of stiff material. It broke off into two half-diamond pieces, similar to Anise's bright pink uniform, that hung down to just above her knees. She felt a little self-conscious in it because of her exposed stomach, but other than that the uniform was actually pretty cute. It had a hot pink design on it that added some color to the plain blue.

"Aren't you done yet?" Anise demanded, turning around to check. She saw Michaela standing there with her arms covering her stomach, looking as innocent as ever. She frowned. "Listen," she said, stomping over to Michaela and glaring up at her with her hands on her hips. "I want you to know that I don't trust you for two seconds. You might have Ion fooled, but that's because he's been sheltered from the real world all his life. I'm not so naïve, and I won't be fooled by your innocent, confused play."

Michaela blinked at the pigtailed girl, not quite sure what to say. "I'm not really, I mean…Wait. Did you say he?"

"What?" Anise asked. Now it was her turn to be confused.

"You called Ion he. Come to think of it, you called him he earlier," Michaela added thoughtfully.

"So?" Anise said. She peered at Michaela as a thought struck her. "Hold on, are you saying you thought Ion was a girl?" She put a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the laughter. She didn't succeed and burst out laughing.

Michaela colored. "W-what? She—I mean he looks like a girl, okay?"

"You thought Ion was a girl! I can't wait to tell him!"

"No! You can't tell him!" Michaela cried, waving her arms around. Randomly Jade's comment from earlier went through her head. She grinned. All of a sudden it made a lot more sense now. "Well, that explains a lot." She pointed an excusing finger at Anise. "You like Ion, don't you?"

Now it was Anise's turn to blush. "What? Of course I don't!"

Michaela jumped up and down in excitement, jabbing her finger in the air at Anise. "You do! You do! That's why you hate me so much! You were jealous!" She laughed.

"That's not true!" Anise cried in protest. "And even if it were, it's not like I" She broke off, casting her eyes to the floor with a pained look on her face.

Michaela's smile faded. "Is something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

Anise looked up with a wide smile on her face and put her fingers to her cheeks. "Of course not! I'm just cheerful Anise!" she said, giggling. "Come on, Ion and the Colonel are waiting for us." She skipped out the door.

Michaela watched her for a moment. That was definitely put on. What was up with Anise?

End of Chapter IV.


	5. Thieves

_A/n: Sorry updates are taking so long. I think I might have mentioned it before, but it's a lot harder to find time to write with school going on, even though my load is pretty light this semester. I also joined Japanese Student Association at my school and as of next week will be an officer!! I'm excited about that. But you guys don't wanna hear me ramble about my boring life when there's stories to be read! So on to the important stuff!! ^.^_

**Chapter V: Thieves**

"Where do you think they're at?" Michaela asked Cheapie, whom she had forcefully woken up a moment ago. Anise had successfully run off once they entered Engeve, leaving Michaela to wander the unfamiliar territory on her own. From she could see, the town basically consisted of farms.

"I don't know. Can I go back to sleep now?" Cheapie asked.

"No way! You sleep way too much as it is," Michaela said. Cheapie ruffled his feathers, but obediently remained awake while Michaela wandered aimlessly, feeling lost and more than a little like an idiot. She was sure people in this town were going to start wondering what was up with the crazy girl wandering around talking to a weird, pink bird thing.

"What's going on over there?" Cheapie asked after a moment, flapping up over Michaela's head to get a better look. Michaela's attention turned to a building where a mob of people were talking and some were yelling angrily. She tiptoed over to see what had happened. From what she could pick up, there had apparently been someone stealing food from the village and the people were starting to get upset because it wasn't the first time. She lingered a moment longer until a few people started to cast curious glances at her, and then decided it was time to leave before she became a suspect. As it was she had already gotten in enough trouble the past two days. The list grew longer and longer every hour.

Michaela groaned as she started walking around the village once again. Why did Anise have to run off like that? What a pain! She glanced down at Cheapie and noticed that he had fallen asleep once again on her shoulder. This thing really was all but useless. She sighed, starting to feel tired and hot from walking out in the sun and was about to give up and just sit down under a tree when she caught sight of a familiar brunette in a blue military uniform walking towards one of the houses.

She ran after him and opened her mouth to call out to him. "Hey, um, Ja—I mean, Colonel Jade!" she cried, deciding it probably wouldn't be polite to call him so informally since he was a _Colonel_. In all honesty, she was all but completely ignorant about anything military, but it still seemed rude to just drop his title, especially since she didn't really know him.

Jade paused and turned around to see her coming towards him. "Ah, hello Michaela," he greeted her as she paused in front of him, huffing a little bit. He smirked at how out of shape she was, so much so that even such a short run had practically worn her out. "Where is Anise?" he asked, not seeing the chipper Fon Master Guardian anywhere.

Michaela made a face that indicated she was extremely annoyed. "I have no idea. She ran off and left me!" she cried.

"Is that so? You two seem to be such good friends, I can't believe she would do such a thing."

Michaela glared at the Colonel as he continued walking towards the house. "I really hope that was sarcasm," she muttered. "I swear I'm gonna kill that kid when I find her."

Jade smiled. "Well, it seems I was mistaken about your relationship." He shrugged and raised his hands.

"Riiight," Michaela said. Either this guy was really slow, or he just had a really sick sense of humor. She had a good feeling it wasn't the former.

They were in front of the house now. Jade rapped his knuckles lightly on the door then resumed his relaxed hands behind his back position. The door opened after a moment by a middle aged woman. Her eyes widened when she saw Jade standing there. "Colonel Jade!" she exclaimed.

"Good day, Rose. It has been awhile," Jade said.

Rose stood aside and beckoned them into the house, shutting the door after them. "It has! What brings you to these parts? Oh, I hope nothing has gone wrong." She looked worried for a moment.

"No, no. Nothing is wrong. I simply came to ask a favor of you," Jade reassured her, smiling.

"Well, of course. Ask anything!" Rose said. "After what you did for my husband, we certainly owe you."

Jade nodded and pushed his glasses up. "I am here on a top secret mission with the Fon Master—this is one of his Guardians," he indicated to Michaela. "It is of the utmost importance that word of the Fon Master's whereabouts do not get out, so I would prefer to avoid staying in a public place such as an inn while we are here."

"Well, our doors are always open to you, Colonel," Rose said. "And the Fon Master is here too. This must be a very important mission if he's involved," she added thoughtfully. She seemed to regain herself and led them to the table in the middle of the room. "Here, make yourselves comfortable. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Thank you, that would be most enjoyable," Jade said.

"Yes, please," Michaela said. She cast a glance at Jade. Was this polite man really the same person she had been talking to a few moments ago? She frowned. So, he was _that_ kind of person. The ones who always made themselves out to be the nicest people when in reality they were completely different. Wonderful.

After a few minutes of complete silence between the two, as both the Colonel and the 'Fon Master Guardian' were lost in their own thoughts, Rose returned with two cups of steaming tea which she set in front of them. "There you are," she said. "If there's anything else I can do for you, please, let me know."

"I will do so, thank you," Jade said.

Michaela blew on her tea before raising it to her lips. In spite of her efforts, the tea scourged her tongue as soon as it made contact. "Ah!" she yelled, sputtering and jumping so suddenly that the cup fell out of hands and broke on the floor after spilling hot tea all over her lap. "Ow!" she cried, jumping out of the chair and pulling her skirt away from her legs to keep the liquid from burning them anymore. "Oh no," she moaned once she realized what she'd just done.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" Rose cried. She rushed over to Michaela with a towel and started trying to mop her soaking skirt with it.

It reminded Michaela with a pang of something her mother might do. She backed away. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm really sorry about your cup."

"Oh, don't be silly. It's easily replaced," Rose said. "Hold on a moment and I'll get you a change of clothes so we can wash those." The kind woman bustled away into the other room and Michaela collapsed onto the chair with a sigh.

"Clumsy, aren't we?" Jade commented.

"Oh, shut up," Michaela sighed, leaning her chin on the table. She really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. "I swear, I can't get through five minutes in this stupid world without something bad happening." The moment the words were out of her mouth, Michaela's eyes widened and she had to keep herself from clamping her hands over her mouth and making her little slip up even more obvious.

"_This_ world?" Jade questioned, his eyebrows raising inquisitively.

"Uh, I just, um," she stammered for an excuse. "Since I can't remember anything, it's like I'm in a completely different world so, yeah…" she finished lamely. Could she be anymore obvious?

"I suppose so," Jade said. Michaela didn't dare to sneak a peek, but she was pretty sure Jade was eyeing her suspiciously. Just when she didn't think she could take it anymore, Rose came back into the room with a bundle of clothes. Michaela jumped up and followed the older woman into the back room, grateful for the chance to escape her own stupidity.

"You're such a tiny thing, I'm sure they'll be much too big for you, but they'll do for today at least," Rose said cheerfully, handing Michaela the clothes. "You can give me your dirty ones and I'll wash them this evening when I do the laundry."

"Thank you," Michaela said. Rose smiled warmly and nodded as she left the room to give Michaela some privacy.

Michaela smiled as she slipped out of her Guardian outfit and pulled on the dark red skirt and plain white shirt. She tied the cloth belt around her waist to keep the skirt, which was humongous on her, from falling down and then sat down on the bed. Rose was so nice. She hadn't asked Michaela one question or given her any strange looks, but instead had just accepted the girl like she was perfectly normal. Michaela wondered how long they would stay here. It probably wouldn't belong, if this mission was so urgent as everyone was making it seem. She sighed for about the hundredth time in the past couple of days.

"I want to go home," she whispered. She stared at her feet for a minute and then jumped up and headed back to the other room. Jade and Rose were now both standing and talking. They turned to Michaela as she entered the room.

"There you are!" Rose said. "Those clothes really are too big for you, I hope they're alright."

Michaela shook her head. "They're fine. Thank you." She noticed that Jade was smirking at her, probably laughing at how ridiculous she looked now, but she chose to ignore him and sat back down at the table.

A moment later the door slammed open and a man yelled, "Rose! We've got trouble!" Michaela turned around just as a teenage boy with long red hair and wearing a white shirt that showed his stomach and hung to the ground in the back was kicked inside the house and fell onto the floor. A group of people followed the boy into the house, glaring down at him as he pushed himself back to his feet.

"Hush!" Rose cried, coming over to the burly man leading the group with her hands on her hips. "We have some very important guests here, so calm down!" She nodded at Jade and Michaela.

Michaela stared as the leader grabbed the boy's collar and lifted him into the air like he weighed nothing at all. People in this world sure were strong. Or maybe it was just the people she seemed to run into. She wondered what was going on anyway. The boy looked irritated (not that she blamed him, considering the way these people were abusing him), and everyone else looked like they were about to kill him. The thought crossed her mind that she could have been in a similar situation in Daath if she hadn't managed to escape the mob before they started to get really suspicious of her. She cringed.

"You want us to be calm?" the man holding the boy cried. "Look at him! This is that thief who's been stealing all our food."

Well that explained a lot. This was what those people had been talking about earlier and they had found the one responsible. Although looking at the boy, he didn't really look like the kind of person who would need to steal food. Well, maybe he had other reasons.

"Would you put me down? I told you it wasn't me!" the boy protested, sending a glare in the man's direction.

The man ignored him and continued his accusations. "Rose, this guy may be with the Dark Wings!"

The Dark Wings? Wait, weren't those…Michaela thought back to the three thieves who had tied her up in the Tartarus earlier that day. This boy definitely hadn't been one of them unless he had been in a really good disguise. Plus, from what Jade had said, the Dark Wings had been chased over some bridge and then blown it up, so there was no way they could be here. "Hey," she started to say, but Jade held a hand up for her to be silent. She looked at him curiously, but he was watching the scene and sipping his tea calmly.

"He's got to be responsible for all the food getting stolen lately!" the man was still saying. Michaela was beginning to doubt whether this guy knew what he was talking about. This kid definitely wasn't with the Dark Wings like he had claimed, and he had yet to give any real evidence. She glanced at Jade again. Wasn't he going to do something? She frowned. It looked more like he was being amused by what was going on.

The boy finally managed to slap the guy's hand away so that he could stand and place his hands on his hips. "I'm telling you people, I'm not your damn thief!" he said angrily. "Do I look like I'm going hungry to you?"

That settled it for Michaela. He was definitely innocent of the accusations being placed upon him. If someone didn't do something he was going to get arrested or whatever they did to thieves for no reason at all. She took a deep breath and stood up from her chair. She had just opened her mouth to say something when Rose started to speak again.

"My, my, what a lively boy," she said. "Let's all just settle down, alright?"

Jade cast a glance in Michaela's direction and moved to the mob of people standing in the doorway. "Yes, please do," he said. Michaela rolled her eyes. It was about time.

Rose turned to him. "Colonel…"

The boy turned around to glare at Jade. "Who the hell are you?"

Jade seemed unmoved by the boy's rudeness. "I'm Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division, Malkuth Imperial Forces. And who might you be?" he asked calmly.

A haughty look came over the boy's face as he pointed at himself with his thumb and said proudly, "I'm Luke. Luke fon—"

He was cut off by a female voice crying, "Luke!" and he turned around to see a girl about his age come through the people and grab him, pulling him away. She had long brown hair and was dressed in a brown outfit embroidered with gold designs. The two of them whispered to each other for a moment.

Weird, Michaela thought. Jade seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

The girl shoved Luke aside and turned to Jade. "My apologies, Colonel," she said in a politely stiff voice. "He's Luke. I'm Tear. We were headed for Chesedonia but we boarded the wrong coach and wound up here."

"Oh? So you're with this man suspected of being with the Dark Wings?" Jade asked, even though Michaela knew he knew as well as she did that he wasn't. What was he up to?

"We're not with the Dark Wings," Tear replied. "The Malkuth military forced the real Dark Wings to the other side of Rotelro Bridge."

"Ah, I see. So you were on that coach from earlier."

"What is all this about, Colonel?" Rose asked.

Jade turned to her and explained that the Dark Wings had been chased to Kimlasca and that there was no way Tear and Luke could be with them.

"They don't appear to be mere food thieves either," Ion's voice said. Michaela looked to see her—him—standing in the doorway.

"Fon Master Ion," Jade said. The townspeople's eyes widened and they moved aside to let him pass.

"I was a bit curious, so I investigated the food storehouse," Ion explained, coming inside. He held something up for Jade to see. It looked like a tuft of fur or something. "I found this in a corner of the room."

Rose peered at the fur. "This is fur from a sacred Cheagle," she said, sounding surprised.

"Yes. A Cheagle is what probably raided your food stores," Ion said.

Luke turned to the man who had originally accused him. "See? I told you I wasn't a thief!" The man scratched his head, looking guilty.

"But you did eat that apple before paying," Tear said. She had her arms crossed over her chest and made a point of not looking at Luke. "You need to learn not to do things that'll make you look suspicious."

"How was I supposed to know? I didn't know I had to pay," Luke whined. He sounded a lot like a little kid whining about getting in trouble. Michaela raised her eyebrows at him. Didn't know he had to pay? Were there really people here more clueless than she was? She stifled a snicker. That was just sad.

Rose smiled at them. "Well, sounds like that's taken care of. I think you all have something to say to this boy and his friend?"

"I'm sorry," the man who had accused Luke said. "With all the burglaries lately, I've been a little on edge."

"Sorry for accusing you," a second man mumbled.

"I'm sorry I made the situation worse," another man piped up.

A few mumbled apologies came from the others and Rose turned to Luke. "Do you think you can forgive them, boy?" she asked.

"I'm not a boy," Luke said in an irritated voice. Michaela smacked her hand to her forehead. He really was acting like a little kid!

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized. "Luke, could we let bygones be bygones?"

"Yeah, whatever," Luke said, turning away.

"Glad to hear it. Now, I have business with the Colonel. I'll think of a way to stop the Cheagles, so all of you just go on home for today."

Michaela smiled as everyone quietly left the house. She admired Rose's way of taking charge without losing her kindness. She was pretty sure she had never met anyone before who was like that.

End of Chapter V.

_A/n: **IMPORTANT!!!!!!!** Ok, well maybe it's not quite that important... Alright, my best friend is writing a TotA story about two twin sisters who manage to make a big explosion and wind up in Auldrant. It's an AschxOC and JadexOC story, and lots of her ideas (I can't tell you cause that would be spoiling) are pretty funny and unique and I've been really looking forward to reading it. But now she's decided that the story is a terrible idea and no one would read it so she's going to stop writing it. Now, here's my question. Would you read it or not? Should she continue? I'm putting up a poll on my profile so please go vote your opinion! You can also tell me what you think in a comment. Anyway, thanks and sorry for the randomness. ^.^_

_Edit: Alright, my friend has agreed to start posting the story for a trial run. If she gets enough positive feedback she'll continue. So, please go review!! .net/s/4863096/1/Tales_of_the_Abyss_The_Remix (it won't let me post the whole link for some reason)_


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